An area of ongoing research and development is in improving performance of communication over a network, and in particular a wireless network. Wireless networks are frequently governed by 802.11 standards. While not all networks need to use all of the standards associated with 802.11, a discussion of the standards by name (e.g., discussion of the 802.11n) provides a useful context in which to describe issues as they relate to wireless systems, at least partly because the standards are well-known and documented,
Performance improvements can include improving one aspect of network communications at the expense of another. Trade-offs between packet types, classes of users, etc., are generally considered an implementation-specific issue. For shared communications, such as multicast video, it may be desirable to sacrifice the performance at a particular network client in favor of other network clients, or ensure that the treatment of various network clients is fair given the capabilities of their stations. Improving overall performance of a group and ensuring fairness have been goals that have not yet been perfectly met.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. For Example, wireless clients may use different protocols other than 802.11, potentially including protocols that have not yet been developed. However, problems associated with performance may persist. Other limitations of the relevant art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.